TestIstanbul 2017 | Conference Moments

8th International TestIstanbul Conference was organized by Turkish Software Testing Board on 25th April 2017 at Renaissance Polat İstanbul Hotel and this year’s main theme was “Agile Testing“. As Kariyer.net Software Test Team, we attended the conference with our CTO Mert Hekimci. He also moderated one of the panels on Technology & Tools in Agile Testing. There was a great crowd and the venue was gorgeous. I met several friends and key members of Turkish Software Testing community as well.

Conference Website: https://testistanbul.org/testistanbul2017/

The conference started with Turkish Testing Board’s President Koray Yitmen‘s talk. He emphasized that the software testing sector has grown by a factor of over %10 percent in two years. Agile Testing and also technical testing such as test automation will accelerate this growth. He also presented some of the outputs of the 2017-2018 Turkish Software Quality Report. You can also get this report here.

testistanbul 2017

After Yitmen’s talk, conference keynote talks started with Michael Bolton. His energy and passion for SW testing were magnificent. He described “What Testing is not?” with his unique melodic expression. He first played sets of musical notes with a computer and then he played the same notes with his mandoline. The first one is very polyphonic and soulless on the other hand other the second one is purely real, touching and exciting like real testing. He will also go on with the core elements and ideas of Rapid Software Testing (RTS). RST is a mind-set and a skill-set of testing focused on how to do testing more quickly, less expensively, and more credibly and accountably. RST is focused on how people learn and self-organize under pressure and it can be applicable to any context. Also, he described “What is Testing?” in his way. “Evaluating a product by learning about it through exploration and experimentation,  which includes to some degree: questioning, study, modeling, observation and inference, output checking, etc.” You can see the details in his slide from here.

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The second keynote was about “Regression Testing” in the agile world. Khalid Allem described the historical evolution and strategies for regression testing in agile and waterfall projects. Also, he showed how we should plan Project and Release Regression effectively.

Jan Jaap Cannegieter presented the third keynote. I really loved his presentation visuals and his talk. I am thinking in the same way with Jan Jaap Cannegieter on software testing processes, techniques, mindset, and approaches. He explained the characteristics of modern and classical test processes. Classical test process comprises of defined phases, well-preparation, strong documentation, and so on. But in the modern world of software testing does not accept most of the heavy loads. We need to test the products based on Values, Confirmations, and Risks. These should be the core three goals of testingConfirmation Based Testing covers regulations and strict requirements. Risk Based Testing is important for testing all the risky areas of the project and product and Value Based Testing tests what kind of values we will deliver to our customers. Also, during the test process, we can test the product in different ways. These are Detailed Scripting, Global Scripting, Session-Based Testing, Bug Hunting, Test Tours, and Freestyle Exploratory Testing. Jan Jaap Cannegieter emphasized that we should use both of the techniques and methods based on your project and product conjuncture and needs.

The last talk was given by Philip Lew, he prepared his talk based on Steven Covey’s Best Seller Book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and these seven habits are:

 Be Proactive

We’re in charge. We choose the scripts by which to live our lives. Use this self-awareness to be proactive and take responsibility for your choices. [1]

 Begin With The End In Mind

Start with a clear destination in mind. Covey says we can use our imagination to develop a vision of what we want to become and use our conscience to decide what values will guide us. [1]

Put First Things First

In order to manage ourselves effectively, we must put first things first. We must have the discipline to prioritize our day-to-day actions based on what is most important, not what is most urgent. [1]

Think Win-Win

In order to establish effective interdependent relationships, we must commit to creating Win-Win situations that are mutually beneficial and satisfying to each party. [1]

Seek First to Understand, Then To Be Understood

Before we can offer advice, suggest solutions, or effectively interact with another person in any way, we must seek to deeply understand them and their perspective through empathic listening. [1]

Synergize

By understanding and valuing the differences in another person’s perspective, we have the opportunity to create synergy, which allows us to uncover new possibilities through openness and creativity. [1]

Sharpen The Saw

To be effective, we must devote the time to renewing ourselves physically, spiritually, mentally, and socially. Continuous renewal allows us to synergistically increase our ability to practice each habit. [1]

He also showed us the Agile Failures.

Definition of TRUST has been explored with the crowd.

Some key principles to be an Agile is described by Lew as follows. He suggested us to focus measurements on Speed and Quality.

He stated that Two-Way communication should be aimed at achieving specific business objectives. We should think “Win-Win” in communication and collaborate with the other teammates.

Also, there are three panels established during the conference. The first one was about People & Organization in Agile Testing. The moderator was Barış Sarialioğlu and the panelists are Erdem Yıldırım, Zehra Taşgın, and Erdal Okumuş. The panel’s main focus was how companies organize their workforce in Agile Processes.

The second one is on Technology & Tools, Moderator is our CTO Mert Hekimci and panelists are Berk Dülger and Lemi Orhan Ergin. They talked about several technologies and tools such as test automation, continuous integration, DevOps, cloud, test data generation, performance testing, security testing, mock tools, API testing tools, etc.

The last panel is about Methodology & Tools. The moderator was Havelsan’s Test Manager Kadir Herkioğlu and the panelists are Pınar Cinali, Barış Bal, and Emine Çelik. This panel covered agile methodologies, mindset, approaches, and processes.

and finally, here we are! :) It was a great event and we really loved the insightful talks and panels. Thanks to Turkish Testing Board to established such a great conference. Hope to be at TestIstanbul 2018! :)


Left to Right: Nurefşan Yargı, Çağla Çelik, Onur Başkırt, Demet Atakan, Bihter Vuslat Yıldırım.

References

[1] https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/habits-of-highly-effective-people-summary

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